Some of you may have seen messages on social media and through large media providers around the potential risk to businesses using the application ZOOM for their meetings. It was noted that there was a risk for people joining the call and potentially either hearing confidential information or disrupting the meeting.
We are using ZOOM for our online chess classes, so we wanted to update you how we ensure your safety in our classes. We have so far not seen any issues, but we take your safety and privacy very seriously.
What can we at Chesslife do?
- We are not sharing confidential information in our classes. Chess is an amazing game and we are sharing our skills and knowledge with students.
- If someone has attended that is not registered or is unknown by us, we will kick the user out of the meeting.
- Once everyone that has registered is online, we lock the meeting so that no unauthorised people can join.
- We can add a password to the meeting. If required, we will add this feature and email all registered students the password.
What can students do in the meeting?
- Don’t use the ZOOM chat option for private messages
- Don’t share personal information
- Don’t mute or turn your video off, so we can see who is interacting
What can parents do to assist with Zoom?
- Help your children understand the importance of online security and privacy
- For younger students, stay with your child during the class
- For older kids, teach them good video conferencing etiquette, including not using the chat for private messages and not downloading files via Zoom. (If we have files to share with you, we will email these)
- Consider whether using an online alias instead of real names is appropriate. Make sure to let us know your alias so that we know who is joining!
We have been assured that ZOOM takes security and privacy very seriously and that the pressure from the community has increased that commitment. We will continue to use ZOOM for the time being, but please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any concerns.
